RACHEL MILNE: Nest

Free exhibition

RACHEL MILNE: Nest is the first major solo exhibition at Newcastle Art Gallery by local Newcastle artist Rachel Milne.  

Focusing on the beauty in the everyday, Milne produces intimate paintings and portraits set in her home and studio, as well as plein air landscapes of iconic places in Newcastle laden with social history.

Applying the genre of Intimism to the modern world around her, Milne’s observational paintings depict ordinary objects like a child’s pram, a chair from her studio or food she has prepared. Paintings of local public swimming pools depict nostalgic scenes that have remained unchanged for years. In another series created whilst Milne was Artist in Residence at the David Jones building, abandoned at the time, shows a place now on the verge of permanent change.

The exhibition also includes recently created works of art by Milne on display for the first time. A series of paintings set in Newcastle artists’ cooperative Creator Incubator provide insight into a vibrant creative arts community set in a large industrial space now re-purposed and part of Newcastle’s ever-evolving history.     

Milne was awarded winner of the Singleton Portraiture Prize in 2013, has been a finalist in the Kilgour Prize at Newcastle Art Gallery in 2014, 2016 and 2018, as well as the prestigious Wynne Prize in 2017 and 2018 at the Art Gallery of NSW.

Rachel MILNE Chariot 2020 oil on board 30 x 30cm Les Renfrew Bequest 2020 Newcastle Art Gallery collection Courtesy the artist